fun, health, love, and life by Alisha Hailey

Month: October 2016

We had a fun Halloween weekend! It ended up being pretty busy but also had some down time.

FRIDAY

It was so nice outside so after work we had dinner and then went for a family walk. The sunset was beautiful and Liam was entertained by his stroller book.

After our walk we stopped at our neighbors to hang out for a little while and pick up a book I had ordered. It was fun to get the two little ones together again and so cute to see little Keaton slowly walking around. The boys will be cruising together soon.

SATURDAY

Liam slept until 8:30am! So Joe and I had the morning to relax and drink our coffee. I taught Zumba at Snap at 8:15am so I didn’t get to see Liam until I got home.

Liam and I had some fun with snap chat while Joe went and checked the trail cams. Once Joe was home I showered quick and then went to lunch with my bestie Molly. It was her birthday Wednesday so we had birthday lunch.

After lunch I headed home so Joe could go out hunting. Liam napped for a little while and then we spent the evening playing. Joe got home a little after 7 and then I left to go to Molly’s to get ready for our evening out. Molly also wanted to go out for her birthday and celebrate Halloween.

I didn’t want to buy a costume so I just ended up wearing all black. Molly was Cruella Deville.

We met up with all our friends and it was pretty fun! I like to motto “nothing good happens after midnight” and usually try to go home around then but Molly wanted me to stay to see her in the costume contest at 12:30 so I ended up getting home around 12:45. Late but fun night will all my best girl friends!

SUNDAY

Sunday was a productive day for me. I ran to the grocery store to get a few things for the week. I also made muffins for Liam and pumpkin spice protein muffins (recipe to come) for me and Joe.

We ended up going to Joe’s parents for the Packer game. His mom made chicken corn chili that was super yummy. Liam liked it too.

Then headed home to get Liam to bed. I then made some pumpkin spice protein balls (recipe to come later this week) for a work party Monday.

I hope everyone enjoyed the weekend and Happy Halloween! Have fun, be safe, and don’t eat too much candy.

I decided to do a post of things that we as parents and Liam as the baby thought were the best in his first year of life! The list is quite lengthy but does not include every single item that we used and loved. These are just the ones that came to mind easily when making this list. I hope you find this helpful!

Chicco KeyFit 30 infant car seat -We love this car seat. We had another brand that we tried and did not like it at all. This one has very easily adjustable straps and is easy to handle. Only down side is that the car seat itself is a little heavier than others but I would still highly recommend it!

Wubbanub -Liam liked this from about 1 month to maybe 3 months of age. Then he moved on. I do highly recommend it because the animal attached helps keep the pacifier in the babies mouth if it is loose instead of falling to the side and it is easier for the baby to find.

3-6 months

We continued to use Pampers diapers with minimal blowouts and no rashes. Still highly recommended.

We also continued to use Aden and Anais swaddle blankets -Once liam’s hands were free he began sucking on these blankets instead of a pacifier.

We continued to use the SwaddleMe adjustable blankets and HALO sleep sacks above. Liam slept so well with them that we kept using them until he started to roll over which is when they recommend discontinued use.

Zipadee-zip transitional sleep sack -we used this once Liam started rolling and couldn’t use the sleep sacks anymore. We weren’t sure he would be ready for complete freedom after always being swaddled. We didn’t use it for long and I like to believe that it helped but I can’t say for sure.

Motorola digital video baby monitor – I’m not sure I could have moved Liam to his crib in his own room without this. Not only because I wanted to make sure he was sleeping okay but also because he is a noisy sleeper and this helped me to confirm whether he was still sleeping or awake when he would make noises in the middle of the night.

Boppy Cradle in Comfort Bouncer -We got this as a hand-me-down. Liam loved this chair. He would sit in it and watch us as we cooked dinner, ate dinner, or needed to get things done. As I was looking for a link for this product it looks like it was discontinued by the manufacturer. Here is a similar type of chair that I would highly recommend. Also, it always seemed like as soon as Liam would get in the chair he would poop. We figured it must be at the perfect angle to get things moving!

Tommee Tippee bottles -Liam adjusted to these bottles with ease and we used them all through his bottle days. We used the closer to nature baby bottle.

6-9 months

We continued to use Pampers diapers with minimal blowouts and no rashes. Still highly recommended.

We also continued to use Aden and Anais swaddle blankets -Liam’s comfort object. I had my aunt cut one into 4 sections and hem them so that we had 4 smaller blankets for Liam to suck on.

Safety first tubside bath seat -We love this. We don’t have to worry about Liam tipping over or the seat floating away. However, there are some terrible reviews on the chair. We have had no problems with it.

Munchkin miracle 360 cup -We have both the trainer with the handles and the one without and Liam likes both. We thought it would be hard for Liam to figure it out but I showed him twice how to use it and he figured it out. I love these because they are supposed to be better for their teeth.

9-12 months

We continued to use Pampers diapers with minimal blowouts and no rashes. Still highly recommended.

We also continued to use Aden and Anais swaddle blankets

Step 2 Finding Dory Water Table -I couldn’t find the exact one Liam has but this one is very similar. This has been our saving grace some evenings. Liam loves to be outside and so this is the perfect summer activity for little ones. Not only that but it seems like kids of all ages love the water table. My nephew who is 2 and my niece who is 5 love it too! This will definitely be making it’s appearance again for many summers to follow!

Laugh and Learn Smart Stages Crawl Around Car -Our friends we visited in Seattle had this toy for their little boy and Liam seemed to really enjoy it while we were there. Since then my mom was on a mission to find one for sale. She ended up finding one on a garage sale site. She cleaned it up and brought it over and Liam loves it. He plays in it every day and loves all the noises it makes.

Push walker– Liam loves walking with a walker as he is learning to navigate in the standing up position.

Board books -Liam loves to turn the pages and so board books are much better than regular paper pages because then he can grab them with out wrecking the page. I would recommend board books with a short number of words on each page.

I’m sure there are many things I am missing but these are really the main items that come to mind when I think about the past year. Of course some of these items are unique to Liam but I hope as you read this you find it helpful!

After work we were at a complete loss of what to do for dinner so we called my mom and she didn’t know either. We ended up picking up Papa Murphy’s pizza and bringing it to my parents. We spent the evening with them and then headed home.

It was a pretty uneventful Friday but it was nice to spend time with my parents.

SATURDAY

We had the New Richmond Youth Hockey Association 2nd annual 5k in the morning. It was chilly so we bundled up and headed to the race. The sun came out and it ended up being a beautiful morning.

After the race Joe had to go to the cabin to fix the furnace so Liam and I spent the rest of the morning together. I had to run a quick errand for Joe so my mom stopped by and watched Liam for a little bit. They had some fun on snap chat!

Joe went hunting again in the evening and I was going to the Sum 41 concert with my family so Joe’s mom came and watched Liam until Joe got home.

I’m not sure if I have shared this before but my younger brother Blake is the videographer for Sum 41 and he got VIP passes for me, my brother Sean, and my parents to see them in Minneapolis. We are all so proud of him! (Here is his latest video)

We picked him up and walked over to Cowboy Jacks for dinner. The spinach and artichoke dip was so good. It was an okay dinner but it did take forever to get our food. Not sure I would go back.

After eating we went over to get our VIP passes and get in our spots. Blake got us great spots to stand and watch the concert. It was so awesome!

Sum 41 put on an amazing show! It was so cool to see them in concert and to see the crowd. The crowd was crazy!

It was really fun to see Blake in action doing the job he loves.

We got to see Blake crowd surf and Sean in the mosh pit. It was crazy! See if you can spot Sean 🙂

After the concert we got to meet the band members and check out the tour bus. It was awesome to just hang and chat with the band.

It was such a great night and so great to spend time as a family watching Blake. I’m so proud of him!

SUNDAY

Joe went hunting right away in the morning and I slept as much as I could after being out late last night. Liam decided 6am was good enough for me—haha!

Once Joe got home he wanted to go to breakfast at Rusty’s. I got this terrible but delicious pumpkin praline french toast. It was so yummy!

Once we got home we were all ready for a nap. It was a pretty uneventful day of just resting, running a few errands, and playing with Liam. It was nice not to do anything after a busy Saturday.

Monday evening Joe and I went to the Xcel Energy Center for the Carrie Underwood Storyteller Tour! We were given the tickets from our friends Pam and Frank Greer who unfortunately were unable to attend. They gave us amazing tickets right on the floor and we are so thankful to have been able to go in their place.

The Swon Brothers on top, Easton Corbin and Carrie Underwood on bottom.

A quick back story before I get into the details of the concert (and post lots of pictures because we were so so close). We met the Greer’s when Joe was coaching hockey and their son Ryan was on the team. We quickly knew we were going to get along well with them and their whole family. Soon we were spending time together outside of the games and practices. Now that Joe is no longer coaching Ryan we have continued to spend time with the Greer’s. Even when we first met the Greer’s we knew that when we had kids (we met before Liam) we wanted them to be just like Ryan and Andrea. They were and are so respectful and well behaved. We immediately looked up to Pam and Frank as role models for us as we began our family together. We are so thankful for their friendship and guidance. We couldn’t ask for better friends! (And we need to get together again soon!)

Now back to the details of the concert! Joe and I got their super early because I just always get so worried about getting places on time. We grabbed a slice of pizza and headed down to scope out the stage/floor area. Once we were down there the “front” row was filled up all the way around. We decided to walk around and see which area would be best for the view. We ended up finding a spot and we planted our feet because we knew it would fill up fast. We were basically in the “second row” and right by an area we knew Carrie would be standing for some of her songs.

The concert started with the Swon Brothers. They only sang a few songs but they were great! They did a wonderful job of getting the crowd pumped up and they had great stage presence.

Next up was Easton Corbin. He was really great too! He sang a bunch of songs including “I’m a little more country than that.” He also sang Justin Bieber’s “love yourself.” He was a fun performer to watch as well.

Then it was time for Carrie Underwood. I could hardly contain my excitement to see her and she did not disappoint. She is an amazing performer and she uses the entire stage.

She had so many outfit changes and sang a mixture of old and new songs of hers. She truly is so good at what she does. I was just stunned her entire show.

She had a few songs that truly touched my heart. She sang “what I never knew I always wanted” and before she sang it she talked about being a mom and how it has changed her life for the better and gave a shout out to all the moms who were just doing it all. I was so touched I even teared up a little. During the song she had a slideshow playing of her husband and son and she just sat on the piano, sang, and watched as the pictures showed. It was adorable and I could relate on so many levels. The other song she sang that gave me serious chills was Dolly Parton’s “I will always love you.” She did a beautiful job singing the song and Dolly would be and probably is so proud. The other song she sang that gave me chills was “Jesus Take the Wheel.” A classic song that is just so powerful and even more so live!

She also has so many upbeat and fun songs that she sang. She sang Joe’s three favorite songs which are “Church Bells,” “Little Toy Guns,” and “Dirty Laundry.” Also a new favorite of mine is “Choctaw County Affair.” It’s a fun song and it is the song she plays the harmonica to.

She is just an incredible performer and puts on a great show. I am so happy to have been able to see her live and so close too! Joe and I both had sore feet and bodies by the end but we had so much fun too!

Shout out to my parents for taking Liam for a sleepover on such short notice and letting us sleepover after the concert. Liam ended up sleeping until 8:30am which never happens so Joe and I were also thankful to Liam for letting us sleep in a little after a late night out! And one more thanks to Pam and Frank again!

The weather was amazing this weekend! We are so glad to have been able to spend some time outside again. We had no plans for the weekend so we just made plans as we went and had so much fun!

FRIDAY

Joe went out hunting and I stayed home. So many things were going wrong at the house so I had Joe come home and after Liam went to bed we watched a movie and went to bed ourselves. Not a very exciting evening but it was still a good one!

SATURDAY

Liam learned how to say “hi” and it is the cutest thing in the world! I basically spent all morning making him say it.

I started teaching Zumba Saturday mornings at Snap starting this week so I did that. It always feels good to get a weekend workout in and also to do it in the morning!

The Badger game was at night but Liam had to get dressed up in his Badger gear. The bibs were a little big but so cute!

Since it was so nice out we decided to got to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater. We invited our neighbors Ryan, Becky, and Keaton to come with too! We met them there. The boys had so much fun. Liam explored everything. He loved it!

It was so neat to see Liam walking around and exploring all the things at the park. He loved seeing how things worked and he also loved the slides. Keaton had a fun time on the slides too!

He loved the teddy bears too because he really likes bears and makes a grrr noise when he sees them. He is just too cute!

After the park we all went to dinner at Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse. The food was amazing!

Even the kids meals had great options and was super yummy. Liam liked it!

We made it home to watch the Badger game and put Liam to bed. I was so tired and ended up falling asleep on the couch at halftime.

SUNDAY

Another morning spent cuddling and playing. Liam is always so happy in the morning.

We went out to breakfast at Rusty’s with Joe’s sister and kids. I got this super yummy (and so unhealthy) strawberry grilled cheese which was cinnamon raisin toast grilled with strawberry cream cheese and bacon in the middle. It was delicious!

We got this super cute picture of the kids by the pumpkins outside. Seriously probably the best picture of them to date!

Once we got home Liam and I played a little bit outside before it was his nap time.

After nap we headed to Joe’s parents for the Packer game and dinner. After that it was home and bath and bed time for Liam.

We had a really great, relaxing, and fun weekend! It is always so nice to have no plans and do whatever you want! Plus it is always great to be able to spend some time outside! I hope you had an amazing week and wish you a happy Monday!

I have had a few people ask me about this recently so I thought I would write a post about it. This will include my reasons for choosing to do this as well as how I felt while taking the capsules.

Where/Who:

Ashley was such a wonderful help to me through this process. She answered all my questions and helped me understand more about the process. Better yet, she picked the placenta up right at the hospital and delivered the capsules to my house. She is very reasonably priced and I highly recommend her services. Her website is http://labourlove.webs.com/ for more information.

The Process:

I chose the Raw method which is a “method that does not involve steaming, but moves directly to dehydration and encapsulation. This method preserves any enzymes or hormones that may be destroyed when the placenta is heated during the steaming process.” (http://labourlove.webs.com/).

I chose this method simply because it sounds better to me than the other method.

Why:

“The placenta provides a variety of natural hormones, and is an excellent source of iron, protein, and other vitamins and minerals.” (http://labourlove.webs.com/).

I chose to do placenta encapsulation because I couldn’t find any reason not to. Although the results of taking these pills has no scientific data to prove it helps, there is nothing to say that it doesn’t either. I consulted with a friend who didn’t do it with her first kid and did with her second and felt the capsules really helped. I also read other testimonials. I couldn’t find any reason not to do it other than that it may not actually do anything to help postpartum. This was not a good enough reason not to try it compared to the possible benefits.

The possible benefits include increase in energy, faster return of the uterus to pre-pregnancy size, decreased postpartum bleeding, faster healing from birth-trauma, replenishment of iron, increased production of breast milk, decreased occurrence of baby blues and postpartum depression, and helpful to manage symptoms of PMS.

My Results:

Liam is my first baby so I do not know what it is like to have a baby and not take the placenta capsules however I do really feel like they helped me a ton.

I felt an increase in energy. Although I was losing a lot of sleep and still really tired, I did feel like I was functioning really well and felt that I had the energy to have visitors and get out of the house if I needed to.

I can’t say for sure that my uterus returned to pre-pregnancy size faster however it did feel like the transition went pretty quick.

I was a milk machine so I do believe the placenta capsules helped to increase my supply.

I do feel like overall my mood was very stable after having Liam and I definitely believe the placenta capsules helped with that. There were very few times that I became emotional during those first few days, weeks, and months with a new baby even when things were really tough and I was running on little sleep.

I truly would recommend placenta encapsulation to anyone who is considering it. I will definitely do it again and I really do feel it was helpful. If it did nothing for me at least I still got good nutrients into my body (which can be challenging with a new baby). For me I felt there was nothing to lose and so much to gain.

We headed up to the cabin Thursday night to have a nice long fall weekend at the cabin. It was quite chilly all weekend but the sun was shining and the trees were beautiful. This is my favorite time of year!

FRIDAY

The morning started off by watching a pair of eagles in the big pine right by the cabin. They are such beautiful birds.

We wanted to make a trip to Hayward at some point over the weekend so we decided to head there this morning. The drive there was so pretty with all the fall colors.

Once we arrived it was super cold out. We decided to grab some coffee and a scone. After that we went to the popcorn store to get some flavored popcorn.

We wanted to walk around a little more but it was just too chilly so we made the drive back to the cabin.

The colors on the lake were very pretty as well. I got some really great pictures of Liam.

I took some photos of Joe and he took some of me. Liam and I also took some selfies! Marley snuck into the background of some of the pictures —haha!

We took one family selfie too.

Joe and his dad went hunting while Liam and I ran to the store to get some fruit and vegetables for snacks. When we returned to the cabin Liam had his dinner (which included cold broccoli that he actually ate!) and then Joe’s mom arrived.

Liam headed to bed and we waited for the guys to return. We then had elk spaghetti which was super yummy and later headed to bed.

SATURDAY

The morning started with a beautiful sunrise and the eagles returned.

Again the colors on the lake were beautiful!

Joe and his dad worked on taking the docks out. We watched and Liam even helped a little. It was still pretty chilly outside so we weren’t out long.

Joe and his dad left later in the morning to go work on their deer stand. Joel and the kiddos arrived a little before noon so the kids stayed with me and Joe’s mom while Joel went to go help the guys with the deer stand.

Liam went down for his nap after playing for a little bit. He didn’t take a great nap and as he was waking up Joe’s sister arrived.

We spent some of the afternoon playing outside. Liam loves riding the 4 wheeler toy with his cousins.

Then we went on a final pontoon ride to see some of the colors around the lake. It was short lived because all of the kids were fussing. Liam was mostly upset that he kept falling.

Does it get any cute than Liam and Marley hanging out at the front of the pontoon?

This is the point in the weekend where I began to completely fail with taking pictures so I apologize for the lack of pictures for the rest of this post.

After the kids went to bed we had a very delicious meal of salad, prime rib, and popovers. It was so yummy and all of us had been waiting all day to eat it.

After dinner we played “watch ya mouth” which is that game with the mouthpieces and then you have to try and talk. It was hilarious! I was crying I was laughing so hard.

After a few rounds of that game we headed to bed.

SUNDAY

The eagles came back again but I didn’t get a picture this time. We spent a lot of the morning packing and cleaning.

We headed home in the afternoon. We spent most of our time at home resting and relaxing. We were feeling so lazy!

We decided to go out for dinner at Rusty’s which was delicious as always. We both even got dessert!

Then it was home for the Packer game and bed time.

We had a nice relaxing weekend and we hope you did too! We finally have some weekends coming up with no plans so I am truly looking forward to that!

This weekend was a super fun and exciting weekend. I was busy busy busy but that was good.

FRIDAY

I had the day off so my bestie Annie and I had a fall fun day! We decided to make it just a go with the flow laid back day. We started with coffee and a visit to this small waterfall in Osceola. It is so pretty and peaceful. We chatted and soaked up the view before heading back up the million stairs we went down.

Then it was off to the apple orchard. We checked out all the decor for sale and walked around a little outside. We checked out the pumpkins but I wasn’t liking any of them much. I bought some apples and pears and Annie got a few soup mixes.

We had time to go out to lunch so we did that. We went to Champs rooftop to eat because it was so nice outside. We ended up just missing the movie time at 1pm so we went to my house to relax for a little bit before the movie at 3.

We went to see Masterminds. It was okay but not great. Parts of the movie were really funny but overall it wasn’t very good which was surprising since the actors and actresses in the movie are normally really funny. I would say wait for this one to come out on DVD or Netflix if you were wanting to see it.

SATURDAY

We spent the morning together drinking coffee and playing with Liam. It was a pretty uneventful morning for us but it was nice.

While Liam napped I started getting ready for date night. Joe and I planned a date night for our 2 year anniversary that was on Tuesday.

I had to wake Liam up from his nap because my mom was picking him up and they were going to a wedding. He looked so cute all dressed up and I even combed his little bit of hair to the side.

Once my mom picked Liam up I finished getting ready. We had reservations for 5:15pm and it was going to take us a little while to get there so by the time I finished getting ready it was time to go.

We went out to eat at Pittsburgh Blue. They have really good steaks and we were so excited to just have such a yummy dinner. I ended up ordering a glass of wine with dinner which was a huge mistake… Ever since having Liam I have discovered certain beverages make my throat swell up…or at least feel swollen. It has never happened with wine before which is why I didn’t think it would be a problem. (Does this happen to anyone else??)

The food looked super yummy but it was so hard for me to eat with my throat all messed up. It was super hard to swallow making eating just uncomfortable. It kind of ruined the dinner for me and Joe. We packed up the rest of my meal to-go and our complimentary dessert and walked over to Whole Foods to get something similar to tums thinking maybe that would help.

We ended up getting these papaya enzyme chews which seemed to help but ultimately I think time passing helped the most. I really wanted dessert and the dessert they gave us was red velvet cake —not a fan! So we drove to Hudson.

While we were at dinner my mom sent us a picture of Liam putting on the charm at the wedding reception. Such a cutie!

Once we got to Hudson my throat felt much better and I was hungry. Joe was hungry too. So we went to Pier 500 for our second meal (haha). We order gouda nachos and brie cheese curds. The nachos were amazing. I was not a fan of the cheese curds.

Then it was time for my dessert. I got the berries crisp which was so amazing and delicious. I seriously couldn’t stop eating it. I want more right now!

We were going to go to a movie in the theaters but we just weren’t interested in seeing any of the movies out right now so we headed home to rent a movie on demand and relax in comfy clothes. We rented Central Intelligence which was pretty funny. Then head off to bed!

SUNDAY

Sleeping in was amazing! I slept until 7:30am which hasn’t happened in so long. Joe slept until after 8am. I woke up, had some coffee, and watched Gilmore Girls on Netflix until Joe woke up.

We seriously did not know what to do with ourselves without Liam. It was so quiet in the house and we both were kind of bored without him there. We missed him too. We would have went and got him right away in the morning but we had a run in the afternoon during Liam’s nap so we were going to get him after that.

We made a nice brunch with eggs and my leftover steak. It was tasty and good fuel for our run.

The race started at 1pm. We headed there at 12:30pm to hang out with Annie and her family before the race. She got a cute new husky puppy Saturday!

The weather was amazing. It was 70 and sunny. It felt really great until we started running…then it was hot! However, I ran my fastest 5k to date! Joe ran with me almost the entire time! After about 2.5 miles he needed a short break. He has a bad ankle and knee right now and they were both really bugging him. It was a really short break though because he was right behind me shortly after I left him.

I kicked it down at the end and ended up taking 3rd place for women in the event and got a free hair cut certificate for it. I finished in just under 28 minutes! Post run we were both sweaty and tired!

After we ran we picked up Liam quick and then headed to Champs for the after party and giveaways. We walked in just in time to have my name called for a Champs gift card. Then shortly after that Joe’s name was called for a Champs gift basket.

We headed home then. I had tortellini soup/pasta cooking in the crock pot for dinner. Joe went out hunting while Liam and I played the rest of the evening. Dinner was super simple since it was in the crock pot.

Liam was tired so he went to bed right at 7. Joe got home from hunting and we spent the evening relaxing on the couch.

We had such a great weekend! I hope everyone was able to enjoy the beautiful weather and I hope you all have a great week!

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